Friday, July 12, 2013

GCWS PROGRAM ARTIST FOR JULY - BETH GOLDSTEIN

At our Wednesday Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society meeting, we were inspired by the wonderful program given by a local Cincinnati artist, Beth Goldstein. Beth shared her journey as an artist, from her days as a student at the Cincinnati Art Academy, to the time she picked up watercolors and tried to learn all about them on her own. As she said, it took a while to learn the beauty of watercolor and how to use it to get that beauty to show. And then she took off. What was most inspiring and delightful for me to hear was how a 4-day trip to Santa Fe created such a drive in her that she came home and painted a series of 75 watercolors from her impressions and thoughts and memories of that trip!!! WOW! And she shared many of those paintings with us. Some began in a fairly realistic and traditional watercolor style, which she said didn't really express what she felt when she was there. Then she moved to brighter colors and shapes, leaving the pure lines showing amidst the landscapes without filling in colors, using a lot of white space and moving to more abstracted shapes that still read as landscapes - but could be turned upside down and read just as well (the sign of a good abstract).

The members were very interested to hear about her journey and where it has taken her. And that she rarely draws before painting, allowing the brush to do the drawing for her and even when she does a few lines, she doesn't allow those lines to capture her and take away the fluidity of the watercolors.From traditional drawing and painting to loose and abstract watercolors and on to creating tiles for homes and businesses (shown in the bottom photo), Beth continues to grow as an artist and has a wonderful portfolio of work to show for the years spent learning and exploring her chosen mediums.

For those in the Cincinnati area, Beth works out of a studio at the Essex and she has a website, if you want to visit and see more of her work and learn more about her artistic endeavors.

I began my journey with watercolor painting in April 2003, taking weekly lessons for six years before I realized I needed to move on to explore on my own.

I admire the work of so many artists; my sidebar is full of artists who inspire me every day. I also love the freedom of Shirley Trevena, the delicate touch of Ted Nuttall and Hazel Soan, and the power of Mary Whyte. I enjoy visiting art blogs, reading art magazines and watching art DVDs to further my art education and to simply enjoy the beauty that is being created around the world in watermedia these days.

"If you have a burning desire to create art, you will lean into the flame of that desire, rather than shy away from it. You may get burned, or you may enjoy the glowing warmth of success. Whatever the outcome, you will not be able to withstand the pull to create something meaningful, beautiful, and lasting."